I doubt they are purposely downgrading. There are forensic clues that separate an EF4 from an EF5 and only saying it's 2mph takes away from the science of it all. Meteorology is a science, and the future studies of this event will rely on accurate scientific data collecting during the post event surveys.
If they say it's an EF4 I trust them.
BTW homes can be wiped off their foundations in EF2s or even less depending on how the home was constructed.
I believe there is bias and political catering when classifying some tornado. There were times where an F4 "magically" became an F5 just prior to or shortly after a presidential visit.
Doswell, Meta, Marshall, and many other big names had serious arguments at a Severe WX conference here several years ago that the enhanced F-Scale would prevent "Fujita Creep" due to political entanglements.
I remember reading an article that talked about this issue. The scientist was stating that winds of over 300MPH are not possible and that Mr. Fujita was wrong in his calculations. Then in May 1999, a DOW recorded wind speeds of 301MPH from the OK tornado.
Science is not infallible and they are always changing and modifying their positions. Sadly, there is bias among scientists.
